Footprints In The Snow
by 123HSMluver
Summary: Troy has little to go by but he does it anyway to find Gabriella. Will it be enough? ONESHOT


Gabriella lay curled into a ball on her bed, blankets thrown to the floor in aggravation. She sat up and ran a hand through her hair, the moon casting a haunting luminescence all around the large shadow filled room. With a hiccup, Gabriella flicked on the lamp and ran a hand across her flushed cheeks.

The night was only just beginning but already Gabriella was tired of lying in bed left to nothing but her thoughts. Her mother had gone out and wouldn't be back until the wee hours of the morning, working the night shift at the hospital.

Gabriella grabbed her cell phone from her bedside table and scrolled through her contacts, debating whether or not to call her boyfriend, Troy. The illuminated screen told her that it was just about midnight, but Gabriella knew that he was probably still awake even though it was a school night.

Gabriella compromised and sent him a text message instead.

_Hey Troy, can't sleep. U still up?_

She placed the phone on her night stand and watched it for a long time, rolling onto her back when the screen refused to light up. Tears gathered in Gabriella's eyes again and she sat up in bed, reaching down to the foot of it to pull her blankets back onto the bed. Just as Gabriella was about to drift off to sleep her cell phone beeped, informing her that she had received a text.

_Just about 2 go 2 bed. Y can't u sleep beautiful?_

Gabriella wiped her tears away with a sniffy smile and pondered if she should tell Troy the truth or not. The truth would just worry him, but lying would make him angry if he found out that she had lied.

_Nothing in particular. I guess I'm just excited that we might have a snow day tomorrow._

It wasn't exactly the truth, but it wasn't a lie either. Either way, it would have to do. The truth wasn't something that Gabriella could fit into the teensy 140 characters that each text message allowed and she wasn't in the mood to talk to Troy because he always could tell if she was crying.

She turned her phone off before Troy had the chance to reply and settled down onto her bed again, staring up at the ceiling until her eyes slid shut and she drifted off into the realm of sleep.

* * *

Troy yawned widely and switched on the radio beside his bed, listening semi-consciously to the weather bulletins that were being listed off along with cancellations. With a sleepy grin Troy heard East High being read off and turned off the radio again with clumsy fingers, flopping back onto his blankets with a content sigh.

Before he could fall asleep, however, Troy hopped out of bed and grabbed his cell phone, returning to his bed with it.

_Looks like u got ur snow day, G. Any plans?_

Troy sat and waited for a reply, brow wrinkling in confusion when ten minutes had passed and his phone still hadn't sung. It was unusual for Gabriella to not reply to his texts and he knew that she wasn't asleep – she was always up before him.

Troy punched in the memorized digits of her phone number and held his phone to his ear, sleep long gone from his mind. The phone rung and rung and rung. Troy's heart accelerated when she didn't answer.

_Looks like I'll have to check on her the old fashion way. _Troy thought with a sigh, clambering out of bed to find his jeans and a sweater.

After scrawling a quick note to his parents, Troy donned his jacket, boots, and hat, heading out into the pitch black cold to journey to his girlfriend's house. The walk was a short one and Troy hurried into her backyard, checking the time on his cell phone. It was just after six thirty and Troy knew that her mother wouldn't be home yet. Up the tree went Troy and he appeared onto the balcony with a thump, cursing quietly as he slipped a few times on the icy planks of wood.

The bedroom was empty. Troy rattled the door open and stepped inside, trying not to drip snow onto her floor.

"Brie?" he called out softly, beginning to worry when he heard no answer. "Are you here? Gabi?"

The silence was his only answer and he sighed, frowning as he saw her cell phone lying abandoned and off on her bedside table. Troy pressed his head to the edge of the door and then closed the door again, scaling back down the tree to look in the windows of the rest of the house. All of them were off and Troy paused for a moment, not sure where to look for her next.

Troy began to amble along the sidewalk, following footprints that led from the house, praying that they were Gabriella's. He paused after a few paces, bending down to examine them. They looked to be about her size and the print was narrow. They definitely weren't Troy's that was for sure and it was too early for the paper person to be out yet.

Deciding he had nothing to lose, Troy followed the footprints, walking for blocks before they turned onto a path leading to a children's park. Troy followed and pulled the collar of his coat up against the rough, chilling wind. The footprints were beginning to fade in the blowing snow and Troy squinted downward, bending over in his attempt to see the direction clearly.

The footprints stopped at the iron ladder of the jungle gym and Troy scurried up the ladder, completely at lost as to why the footprints were leading here. Troy had never seen this place in his life and it wasn't a place that he had heard Gabriella talk about. He was hit with the sudden terror that these weren't her footprints at all.

_Get a grip Troy._ He told himself sternly. _You've come this far._

He took a few steps forward and caught sight of a tunnel suspended between two of the platforms. He walked over to it and crouched down, jaw dropping in shock as he caught sight of his girlfriend cuddled up into a ball, staring dumbly at the plastic cylinder encasing her.

"Brie?!" He cried, kneeling in the snow and ducking so that he could see all the way into the circle.

For a moment, she didn't respond, just continued to stare. Her face was pale and with a jolting start Troy realized that she was wearing only a t-shirt and pyjama bottoms, thin sneakers encasing her bare feet. She blinked and then looked up at him, eyes glazed over and tear drops frozen on her cheeks.

"Hi." She said, her voice cracking.

"Come here." Troy murmured, reaching out a hand to her. He, himself couldn't fit into the tunnel and as tiny as Gabriella was, she was crunched up into a tight position to fit herself in.

She obeyed silently, unfolding herself and half crawling half spilling out of the tunnel and into the blanket of snow. Troy helped her up and unzipped his jacket, cradling her close to him to warm her up and wrapping the jacket around both of them.

"What in the world are you doing out in this weather?" He said, holding her as tight as he could when he felt the temperature of her skin. "Why are you only wearing a t-shirt?!"

"I-I don't k-k-know." She stammered, beginning to shiver now. "I'm so c-c-c-cold-d."

Without hesitation Troy picked her up and traipsed back the way he had come, making sure that she kept her face inside the little cover he could provide for her. The journey back to her house was longer than Troy ever remembered and he walked as quickly as he could, feeling his face begin to numb as he fronted the biting wind.

Troy burst into the house, somehow manoeuvring the doorknob with his elbow. It wasn't until he had gotten inside that he realized the lights were on, symbolizing that Gabriella's mother had gotten home.

"Maria!" he called, wincing when he heard the fear in his voice. Evidently, she had too, because she came running in a hurry.

"Troy? What's the…Gabriella!!" Her face drained of all colour. "What happened?!"

Troy stumbled out his story, laying her on the couch and grabbing a blanket that lay along the top of it. He wrapped her in it and then pulled her onto his lap, rubbing his hands up and down to help warm her up.

"She looks so haunted." He finished, taking in her pale expression and her eyes staring lifelessly at the couch.

"Gabi?" Maria asked, cradling her daughter's face in her hand. "Gabriella, can you hear me?"

Gabriella's expression twitched and with agonizing slowness she lifted her eyes to meet her mothers.

"Mama?" She breathed.

Troy held his breath as she tensed and then collapsed all in one quick second. She scrambled from his arms and to her where her mother crouched in front of the crouch, the blanket staying on Troy's lap.

She burst into tears and Maria held Gabriella tightly, soothing the upset girl and rocking her back forth like she would a baby. Troy just sat helplessly, resting his forehead on his knees as fear washed over him at her behaviour. He had never heard Gabriella cry this hard before and it scared him to think that he couldn't provide her with any comfort, any sense of belonging. He closed his eyes and drew in a few shaky breaths, wincing with each heart wrenching sob that was uttered. Maria seemed just as lost as him, struggling to comprehend Gabriella's heartbreak. It was a long time before the wailing subsided.

* * *

"It must be her father." Maria said quietly, nursing her cup of tea between her hands.

Troy glanced up from his own untouched drink and took in her pensive expression. Maria met his gaze and sighed, her face empty of the joy that it usually held.

"Gabriella's father died when she was younger, as I'm sure that she told you, and she always has a hard time with it on the anniversary of his death – which is today. I'm guessing that for some reason today was harder than other years and she went into a mess of flashbacks."

Troy nodded, with a sigh, tracing the rim of the mug in front of him with the tip of his finger. It was quiet for a moment and Maria glanced over at the upset boy in front of her, easily reading the worried and helpless mood radiating from him.

"She'll be fine, Troy. I should have thought to warn you."

"Should I leave? Will it be easier for her to get through this with just the two of you?"

"I'm sure it'll help to have you around – I won't be much help, I'm afraid. I have to work again tonight so I need to get some sleep."

With that, Maria stood up and excused herself, leaving Troy to his thoughts and coffee. Troy thought long and hard what to do, draining his cup as he did so. With a glance at the clock Troy got up and put his now empty mug into the top rack of the dishwasher, taking his time to get to where Gabriella was now slumbering peacefully on the sofa.

Troy knelt down beside her and took in her pale, tear drenched face. Running a hand through her long curls, Troy called her name softly. She didn't stir. Deciding to let her sleep, Troy rested his head on the couch beside hers and closed his own eyes, telling himself that he'd think about what to say after a nap.

* * *

Gabriella cracked her eyes open and squinted in the bright light of the early afternoon. Loud snores sounded from directly below her right ear, alerting her that someone was snoozing almost on top of her. Lifting her head, Gabriella smiled as her eyes focussed on the unruly mop of blonde hair that Gabriella knew belonged to Troy.

Gabriella sat up and ran a hand through her hair, twisting into a messy bun and wrapping a hair elastic around it. She rubbed her fists over her eyes and then yawned, absentmindedly patting Troy on the head. His face twitched and he slowly cracked his eyes open, half smiling when he realized who he was looking at.

"Hey gorgeous, was I snoring?"

Gabriella smiled and giggled a bit.

"Yes."

Troy nodded and yawned widely, sitting in an upright position so that he was looking at her the right side up. Gabriella moved over and Troy relaxed on the seat beside her.

"You could have called me you know."

Gabriella's smile slipped from her face. She glanced over at Troy and then crawled onto his lap when he opened his arms.

"Troy, I'm so sorry. Normally I would, it's just…I thought I would be able to handle it on my own but I guess I was wrong. It's been so long a-and it's so stupid that it's this hard after everything. It makes me so sad and hard to deal with. I didn't call you because I knew that I would be a mess."

Troy nodded and pulled her tight against his chest. Gabriella sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, losing herself in the security that she felt in Troy's embrace.

"I understand that, and I respect your right for you own personal space. But I also want you to know that I will be here for you in whatever mood that you're in. I don't care that it's a bad one – I'll still try and help to take care of you. Don't worry okay, Brie? Next time, know that you can call me if you need me. I love every part of you, even the bad parts."

Gabriella smiled and stroked his cheek softly.

"Thank you. I don't know what I'd do without you." She whispered with tear filled eyes. "It means a lot to me that you're willing to do that for me."

It was silent for a moment as the two of them sat there, content to enjoy the comfort of each other. Soon, though, Gabriella gained control over her emotions and stretched a smile across her pale face.

"What can I do to make you feel better?" Troy asked, brushing a hand through her hair.

"Kiss me." She said simply.

And he did.

**AN: So this was just a random one shot that I wrote because I was bored and wanted to write something, haha. Anyways, I hope you liked it! Thanks for reading and feel free to review!**


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